2023 was the deadliest year yet for aid workers who save lives during crises in low-income countries around the world. This year could be even worse. The global campaign #ActForHumanity, in which the Slovak Platform of Development Organizations - Umbrella is also involved, therefore calls for a stop to attacks on people helping people in the field, as well as the civilian population.
According to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of aid workers killed in the field more than doubled last year: from 118 in 2022 to 261 in 2023. It is believed that the death toll could be even higher this year. South Sudan has long been the most dangerous place for national and international teams of humanitarian organizations to work. Slovak organizations also implement humanitarian and development projects there: SAVIO, MAGNA, eRko or the University of Health and Social Work St. Elizabeth, which is associated in the Platform of Development Organizations - Umbrella. This is also why Ambrela, together with its members, joined the global campaign #ActForHumanity.
"The goal of the campaign is to publicly pressure the powerful to take measures to ensure the protection of the civilian population as well as humanitarian workers in conflict zones. On World Humanitarian Day, which is commemorated annually on August 19, we demand an end to these rights violations and attacks, as well as the impunity with which they are committed," reminds the executive secretary of the Umbrella platform, Daniel Kaba.
The contemporary and interconnected world faces several unprecedented challenges. According to UN estimates, almost 49 billion dollars are needed to help more than 186 million people in need. "As a result of the war in Ukraine and the subsequent humanitarian crisis, tens of millions of people are homeless and outside their homes. The conflict in Gaza shows us the problems in providing aid to those who need it. We cannot forget the climate crisis and the associated food insecurity, which is most visible and prominent in the East African region. And to this must be added the shrinking space for civil organizations in Europe," says Daniel Kaba from Umbrella, adding that precisely this the October international conference Umbrella Development Forum (ADF) will be dedicated to current challenges.
Text: Umbrella Platform, Photo: Umbrella archive, www.ambrela.org/
More info about the Umbrella platform: The platform of development organizations - Umbrella covers three dozen mostly non-governmental organizations in Slovakia, which are dedicated to humanitarian aid, development cooperation and global education - at home and abroad. On October 10, the Umbrella team is preparing the Umbrella Development Forum (ADF https://developmentforum.ambrela.org/),) international conference, which will address current challenges in the field of international development. The last year included eight high-level panel discussions and accompanying events, in which over a hundred participants from more than 20 countries participated. More at: https://developmentforum.ambrela.org/